Mobile communication apparatus having anti-theft and auto-notification functions

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication apparatus comprises a first SIM card, an anti-theft control circuit, and a transmission control circuit. The first SIM card is engaged with the mobile communication apparatus and has a corresponding first IMSI code. The anti-theft control circuit has a SIM-card-detection module and a subscriber information management module. The SIM-card-detection module is used for detecting whether the first SIM card is replaced by a second SIM card and generating a corresponding detection result. The subscriber information management module is used for storing the corresponding first IMSI code and predetermined contact information. The transmission control circuit is used for transmitting data and/or signals. When the SIM-card-detection module generates the detection result, the transmission control circuit will send a notice signal according to the predetermined contact information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a mobile communication apparatus and, moreparticularly, to a mobile communication apparatus having anti-theft andauto-notification functions.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As the continuous development of technology, mobile communicationapparatuses have become more and more multi-functional and expensive.When users lose their mobile communication apparatuses, it will causethem a lot of inconvenience and financial lost.

The mobile communication apparatus has a unique international mobileequipment identity (IMEI) to identification. When the mobilecommunication apparatus is lost, the position of the lost mobilecommunication apparatus can be traced via the IMEI-trace procedureprovided by the TSP (Telecom service provider). However, if the originalSIM (Subscriber identification module) card of the lost mobilecommunication apparatus is replaced, the TSP for the original SIM cardwill not be able to trace the position of the mobile communicationapparatus via the IMEI-trace procedure. The owner can still find theposition of the mobile communication apparatus by asking all the TSPs toperform the IMEI-trace procedure, but it is too expensive. However, ifthe lost mobile communication apparatus is taken overseas, it isimpossible to find it back.

Some well-known mobile communication apparatus has GPS (global positionsystem) facility installed, and the position of the lost mobilecommunication apparatus can be traced via the GPS. However, the cost ofinstalling GPS facility is too high to aim the GPS facility at findingthe lost mobile communication apparatus.

Some mobile communication apparatus of the prior art has some securityfunction. For example, each SIM card has a PIN (personal identificationnumber) as a password, and each mobile communication apparatus hasseveral kinds of security codes for preventing the lost mobilecommunication apparatus from being misused and/or preventing theimportant information stored inside from being stolen. However, it willbe impossible for the owner to find the lost mobile communicationapparatus via the mentioned security function.

In the mobile communication apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,662,023, if it is not normally started (e.g. the wrong security codeis entered), it will display the information about the owner of themobile communication apparatus on the interface. Besides, the owner canalso use remote control, such as short messages, to control the securitysettings of the lost mobile communication apparatus. However, if the SIMcard of the lost mobile communication apparatus is replaced, the ownerwill have no idea about the new phone number of the lost mobilecommunication apparatus so that it is impossible for the owner to sendthe short messages to the lost mobile communication apparatus forsecurity settings. Namely, the remote control function cannot beperformed.

Hence, the main objective of the present invention is to provide amobile communication apparatus which has anti-theft andauto-notification functions to solve the above problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication apparatus that has anti-theft and auto-notificationfunctions and a method of signal detection and notification for theapparatus that can help the owner find the lost mobile communicationapparatus.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication apparatus that has anti-theft and auto-notificationfunctions; it also provides a method of signal detection andnotification for the apparatus that can retrieve and send informationabout the user of the new substitute SIM card to the original owner whenthe mobile communication apparatus is lost and the SIM card of themobile communication apparatus is replaced. The original owner can usethe new communication number to set and trace the lost mobilecommunication apparatus.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication apparatus that has anti-theft and auto-notificationfunctions; it also provides a method of signal detection andnotification for the apparatus that can start the security functions toprotect the original owner's personal data and to further send thatpersonal data to the original owner.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a mobilecommunication apparatus that has anti-theft and auto-notificationfunctions and a method for information security for the apparatus thatcan make the original owner remotely change the security setting whenthe mobile communication apparatus is lost.

The mobile communication apparatus of the present invention that hasanti-theft and auto-notification functions comprises a first SIM card, atransmission control circuit, and an anti-theft control circuit. Thefirst SIM card is configured to be engaged with the mobile communicationapparatus, and it has a corresponding first international mobilesubscriber identity (IMSI). The transmission control circuit is used tosend data or/and signal.

The anti-theft control circuit comprises a SIM-card-detection module anda subscriber information management module. The SIM-card-detectionmodule is used to detect whether the first SIM card (i.e. the originalSIM card) is replaced by a second SIM card (i.e. the substitute SIMcard), and to generates a corresponding detection result. The subscriberinformation management module is used to store the corresponding firstIMSI code of the first SIM card and contact information. When theSIM-card-detection module generates the detection result, thetransmission control circuit will send a notice signal to the originalowner according to the contact information stored in the subscriberinformation management module.

The mobile communication apparatus of the present invention that hasanti-theft and auto-notification functions also comprises a securitymodule. The security module comprises/provides a plurality of datasecurity classes for setting and stores a third security code forprotecting the data in the user's (original owner's) personal databasecorrespondingly. When the transmission control circuit receives a remotemessage, the security module will determine whether the remote messageis a predetermined legitimate remote control message according to thethird security code. If YES, the data in the user's personal database isprotected correspondingly by performing a data security procedureaccording to the remote control message.

The method of the present invention for signal detection andnotification applied in a mobile communication apparatus comprises thefollowing steps. To begin with, a first SIM card is provided to becoupled to the mobile communication apparatus, and the first SIM cardcomprises a corresponding first international mobile subscriber identity(IMSI) code. Next, the fist IMSI code corresponding to the first SIMcard and predetermined contact information are stored in the mobilecommunication apparatus. Then, it is detected whether the first SIM cardis replaced by a second SIM card, and a corresponding detection resultis generated. If a detection result is generated by theSIM-card-detection module, a notice signal will be sent to the user (theoriginal owner) according to the predetermined contact information.

The method of the present invention applied in a mobile communicationapparatus comprises the following steps. A plurality of data securityclasses are provided in the mobile communication apparatus for setting,and a third security code is provided for protecting the data in theuser's (original owner's) personal database correspondingly. When aremote message is received by the mobile communication apparatus, theremote message is examined by using the third security code. After theremote message is confirmed to be the predetermined legitimate remotecontrol message, the data in the user's personal database is protectedcorrespondingly by performing a data security procedure according to theremote message.

Hence, the present invention is provided not only to effectivelysecure/protect the data stored in the mobile communication apparatuswhen the mobile communication is lost, but also to remotely control thesetting of the lost mobile communication apparatus. Besides, when theoriginal SIM card is replaced, user information of the substitute SIMcard can be sent to the original owner via various transmission methodsso that the original owner can continuously trace and set the lostmobile communication apparatus by using a new communication numberprovided in that user information. This helps the original owner to findback the lost mobile communication apparatus.

The advantage and spirit of the invention could be better understood bythe following recitations together with the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a function block diagram illustrating a mobile communicationapparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a function block diagram illustrating the mobile communicationapparatus of FIG. 1 a when its original SIM card being replaced by asecond SIM card.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the subscriber informationmanagement module as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the method of signal detection andnotification for the mobile communication apparatus according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the data security method for themobile communication apparatus according to a preferred embodiment ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a function block diagramillustrating a mobile communication apparatus 10 according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functionblock diagram illustrating the mobile communication apparatus 10 shownin FIG. 1 when its SIM card 12 being replaced by a second SIM card 13.As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication apparatus 10 of theinvention comprises a first SIM card 12, an anti-theft control circuit14, a transmission control circuit 16, and a communication circuit 17.The mobile communication apparatus 10 has a unique international mobileequipment identity (unique IMEI) 64 for identification. The anti-theftcontrol circuit 14 comprises a SIM-card-detection module 20, asubscriber information management module 22, and a security module 24.

The first SIM card 12 is coupled to the mobile communication apparatus10, and it comprises a corresponding first international mobilesubscriber identity (IMSI) code 18 and a corresponding first phonenumber 52. The first SIM card 12 is placed in the mobile communicationapparatus 10 and is connected with the communication circuit 17. Thecommunication circuit 17 is configured to form a communication linkage.The transmission control circuit 16 is configured to transfer dataand/or signal.

The SIM-card-detection module 20 is configured to detect whether thefirst SIM card 12 is replaced by the second SIM card 13, and to generatea corresponding detection result. The SIM-card-detection module 20comprises a detector 26 and a comparator 28. The subscriber informationmanagement module is used to store the first international mobilesubscriber identity (IMSI) code 18 corresponding to the first SIM card12 and to store a predetermined contact information 34.

Please refer to FIG. 2. The detector 26 is used to detect the second SIMcard 13 currently coupled to the mobile communication apparatus 10, soas to get a corresponding second IMSI code 30. The comparator 28 is usedto compare the second IMSI 30 with the first IMSI code 18 stored in thesubscriber information management module 22. If it is determined thatthe second IMSI 30 is different from the first IMSI 18, theSIM-card-detection module 20 will generate a corresponding detectionresult 32. In the mobile communication apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2,because the first SIM card 12 is replaced by the second SIM card 13, theSIM-card-detection module 20 will detect that replacement, and generatea corresponding detection result 32. When the SIM-card-detection module20 generates the detection result 32, the transmission control circuit16 will send a short message according to the predetermined contactinformation 34 in the subscriber management module 22. At this time, theTSP will automatically add a notice signal 36 into the short message. Inother words, when the mobile communication apparatus 10 detects that thefirst SIM card 12 is replaced by the second SIM card 13, the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 will send a short message according to thepredetermined contact information 34, and the TSP of the second SIM card13 will add the phone number of the second SIM card 13 into the shortmessage.

The second SIM card 13 has a corresponding second phone number 42, andthe notice signal 36 comprises the corresponding second phone number 42of the second SIM card 13, wherein the second telephone number 42further comprises a country code 38 and an operator code 40. Suppose thesecond phone number 42 is “+886928xxxx”, then the country code 38 is“+886” which represents Taiwan; the operator code 40 is “928” whichrepresents Chung-Hwa Telecom, a communication service provider inTaiwan. Particularly, when the TSP of the second SIM card 13 and that ofthe first SIM card 12 are in the same country, the second phone number42 may not show the country code 38.

Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating thesubscriber information management module as illustrated in FIG. 1. Inthe mobile communication apparatus 10, the subscriber informationmanagement module 22 stores the first IMSI code 18 and contactinformation 34. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention,the contact information 34 may be an e-mail address 54 and/or acorresponding first phone number 52 to be stored in the subscriberinformation management module 22 in advance. The predetermined contactinformation 34 can comprise both of the e-mail address 54 and the firstphone number 52, or one of them. According to different embodiments ofthe invention, the contact information 34 can be the e-mail address 54or/and the first phone number 52, and the notice signal 36 istransmitted to the predetermined e-mail address 54 or/and the firstphone number 52.

If the mobile communication apparatus 10 is lost and the first SIM card12 is replaced by the second SIM card 13, the mobile communicationapparatus 10 will send a short message having the notice signal 36automatically added by the TSP of the second SIM card 13 to the originalowner according to the predetermined contact information designated bythe owner, such as a telephone number and/or an e-mail address. In otherwords, when the original owner receives the phone call and/or thee-mail, the owner will know the related information of the second SIMcard 13. Therefore, the original owner can trace the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 by that information.

As shown in FIG. 3, the subscriber management module 22 also has auser's personal database 44. According to the embodiment of theinvention, the user's personal database 44 includes a phonebook database46, a schedule database 48, an e-mail database 50, or other kinds ofdatabase. According to an embodiment of the invention, the predeterminedcontact information is the e-mail address 54. The transmission controlcircuit 16 will send an e-mail which includes the notice signal 36 tothe e-mail address 54. If the substitute second SIM card 13 has thee-mail service provided by the TSP, the original owner can obtain thesecond phone number 42 via the sender of the e-mail. For example, thesender's address of the e-mail which includes the notice signal 36 willbe presented as 0928xxxxxx@emomo.net.tw, wherein 0928xxxxxx is thesecond phone number 42. If the substitute second SIM card 13 does notuse the e-mail service provided by the TSP, the notice signal 36 sent tothe e-mail address 54 will only comprise the second IMSI code 30.However, the original owner can still obtain the country code 38 and theoperator code 40 of the second SIM card 13 via the second IMSI code 30.According to the embodiment of the invention, the transmission controlcircuit 16 will further transmit the data in the user's personaldatabase 44 to the e-mail address to be received by an electronicapparatus (not shown).

In some embodiment of the invention, when the mobile communicationapparatus 10 is lost and the first SIM card 12 of the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 is replaced by the second SIM card 13, theSIM-card-detection module 20 will detect the replacement, and then thetransmission control circuit 16 will send an e-mail according to thee-mail address 54 and will also transmit the data in the user's personaldatabase 44 to the e-mail address 54 to be received by the computersystem for storing. Therefore, even if the original owner cannot findback the lost mobile communication apparatus 10, the original owner canget back the phonebook records, schedule records etc in the user'spersonal database 44 stored in the lost mobile communication apparatus10 via the mentioned data transmission.

In some embodiment of the invention, the predetermined contactinformation is the first phone number 52. When the SIM-card-detectionmodule 20 generates the detection result 32 and transmits the detectionresult 32 to the security module 24, the security module 24 will notifythe transmission control circuit 16. The transmission control circuit 16will dial the first phone number 52 via the communication circuit 17,and the notice signal 36 will be automatically sent via the TSP. Thenotice signal 36 includes a second phone number 42. The second phonenumber 42 further comprises the country code 38 and the operator code40. However, the user can disable the function of sending phone numberfor hiding the second phone number 42 while using the mobilecommunication apparatus 10. Under this situation, the security module 24will enable/activate the function of sending phone number first, andthen notify the transmission control circuit 16 to dial the first phonenumber 52 via the communication circuit 17, so as to send out the noticesignal 36 that includes the second phone number 42.

When a subscriber (i.e. the original owner) wants to edit and/or tomodify the predetermined contact information 34 in the subscriberinformation management module 22, a first security code must becorrectly inputted. The first security code 56 is set by the subscriberand is stored in advance in the mobile communication apparatus 10. Afterthe input first security code 56 is confirmed to be correct, thecorresponding IMSI code of the SIM card currently coupled to the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 will be stored in the subscriber informationmanagement module 22.

The security module 24 has a plurality of data security classes forsetting. When a subscriber (i.e. the original owner) wants to set and/orto modify the data security class of the mobile communication apparatus10, a second security code 58 must be correctly inputted. Only when theinput second security code is confirmed to be correct, the subscriber isallowed to set and/or to modify the data security class of the mobilecommunication apparatus 10. Besides, the user can disable the functionof the anti-theft control circuit 14 by entering the second securitycode 58. In some embodiment of the present invention, the securitymodule 24 provides four data security classes for user (i.e. subscriber)selection and setting. The four data security classes and theircorresponding security actions are listed in table 1.

TABLE 1 Data Security Class Security Actions Class 3 Sending out thenotice signal to the predetermined contact information, locking andencrypting all data in the user's personal database stored in thesubscriber information management module, and sending all of that datato the predetermined contact information Class 2 Sending out the noticesignal to the predetermined contact information, locking and encryptingall data in the user's personal database stored in the subscriberinformation management module Class 1 Locking and encrypting all data inthe user's personal database stored in the subscriber informationmanagement module Class 0 Doing nothing relating to data security

In some embodiment of the present invention, when the data securityclass of the mobile communication apparatus 10 is set to be Class 3 andis activated, all of the data in the user's personal database will betransmitted to the original owner. The data in the phonebook database 46is packaged in the form of a virtual business card (vCard) fortransmission, while the data in the schedule database 48 is packaged inthe form of a virtual calendar (vCalendar) for transmission. In otherwords, when the data security class 3 is activated, the owner willreceive the data in the form of a vCard, a vCalendar and e-mails, andcan easily store the vCard, the vCalendar, and the e-mails (i.e. thedata) into another mobile communication apparatus, such as a mobilephone, or other electronic apparatus, such as a personal computer, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA).

When the security module 24 receives the detection result 32, a datasecurity procedure in the data security module 24 is activated, and theuser's personal database 44 is protected and secured according to theset data security class. After sending out the notice signal 36, thesecurity module 24 will wait for a confirmation signal for confirmingthat the notice signal 36 has been successfully transmitted to thepredetermined contact information 34. If the security module 24 does notreceive the confirmation signal in a predetermined period, it will sendout the notice signal 36 again until the confirmation signal isreceived.

During and after the transmission control circuit 16 transmits the datain the user's personal database 44 to the predetermined contactinformation 34, the security module 24 will avoid displaying anyinformation related to that data transmission. Furthermore, it willdelete all of the records related to that data transmission. Similarly,no information related to the notice signal transmission and theconfirmation signal reception will be displayed and recorded.

When the mobile communication apparatus 10 is lost, the data in theuser's personal database 44 of the mobile communication apparatus 10 notonly can be sent back to the original owner, but also any informationrelated to that data transmission will not be displayed or I recorded,neither the notice signal transmission and the confirmation signalreception. Namely, the data security procedure, including the noticesignal transmission, data locking, encryption and transmission, isperformed in secret. Therefore, even if the lost mobile communicationapparatus 10 is taken by others, the performing of the data securityprocedure will not be known. Furthermore, by applying the functions ofsignal detection and notification mentioned above, it is more possiblefor the original owner to find back the lost mobile communicationapparatus 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transmission control circuit 16 includes acarrier control module 60 and a data transmission module 62. The carriercontrol module 60 will select one available carrier from a plurality ofcarriers according to the size of the data to be transmitted for datatransmission. The transmission carrier is provided in a communicationsystem, such as a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), ageneral packet radio service (GPRS), Enhanced Data rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE), a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (wCDMA), anda CDMA2000.

The data transmission module 62 will select a corresponding datatransmission application program according to the selected transmissioncarrier for the data transmission. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4,the data transmission application program may be an e-mail application,a short message service (SMS) application, and a multimedia messageservice (MMS) application.

The invention also provides a method for signal detection andnotification to be applied in a mobile communication apparatus. Themobile communication apparatus is coupled to the first SIM card, andstores a first IMSI corresponding to the first SIM card andpredetermined contact information. In the signal detection andnotification method for the mobile communication apparatus of theinvention, it will be detected whether the first SIM card is replaced bythe second SIM card, and a corresponding detection result will begenerated. Then, a short message having the notice signal automaticallyadded by the TSP is sent to the predetermined contact information.

Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the method ofsignal detection and notification for the mobile communication apparatusaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Please refer toFIG. 4, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the flowchart of the method for detectingwhether the first SIM card 12 is replaced by the second SIM 13 card andthe flowchart of sending the notice signal 36 are demonstrated. In theembodiment, the first IMSI 18 corresponding to the first SIM card 12 andthe predetermined contact information 34 are pre-stored in the mobilecommunication apparatus 10. According to the present invention, themethod to detect whether the first SIM card is replaced by the secondSIM card in the mobile communication apparatus 10 comprises the stepsbelow:

Step 100: Detecting the second SIM card 13 currently engaged with themobile communication apparatus 10, and then obtaining a correspondingsecond IMSI 30.

Step 102: Comparing the second IMSI 30 with the first IMSI 18 stored inthe subscriber information management module 22 to identify whether thesecond IMSI 30 and the first IMSI 18 are the same. If yes, go to step108; if not, go to step 104.

Step 104: Generating detection result 32 which represents the secondIMSI 30 is different from the IMSI 18.

Step 106: Sending the notice signal 36 to the predetermined contactinformation 34.

Step 108: End.

Please refer to FIG. 1. The security mechanism of the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 is further described as follows. The securitymodule 24 not only can achieve the above functions but also executeother security functions. The security module 24 not only has aplurality of data security classes for setting, but also stores a thirdsecurity code 66 for protecting the data in the user's personal database44. When the transmission control circuit 16 receives a remote message68, the security module 24 examines whether the remote message 68 is apredetermined legitimate remote control message according to the thirdsecurity code. If YES, the data in the user's personal database 44 isprotected correspondingly according to the remote message 68.

The remote message 68 is sent by a remote electronic apparatus (notshown). The electronic apparatus comprises an interface program toreceive an inputted fourth security code, and the electronic apparatuswill use the fourth security code to compile and/or encode the remotemessage 68 to be the predetermined legitimate remote control message.After receiving the remote message 68, the security module 24 will usethe stored third security code 66 to decompile/decode the remote message68. If the fourth security code (not shown) and the third security code66 are the same, the remote message 68 can be successfully decoded andbe identified to be the predetermined legal remote control message.After recognizing the remote message as the predetermined legal remotecontrol message, the data in the user's personal database 44 is securedaccording to the remote message 68.

In some embodiment of the invention, the electronic apparatus sendingthe remote message 68 is another mobile communication apparatus. In thisembodiment of the invention, when the original owner of the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 loses the mobile communication apparatus 10,the original owner can use another mobile communication apparatus tosend a short message as a remote message 68 for remotely controlling thelost apparatus 10. After the mobile communication apparatus 10 receivesthe remote message 68, it will use the stored third security code 66 todecode the remote message 68. After the remote message 68 is confirmedto be a predetermined legitimate remote control message, the data in theuser's personal database 44 is correspondingly secured according to theremote message 68. In this embodiment, the following actions/operationsfor data security may be performed according to the remote message 68:changing/setting the security class, locking all of the personal datafrom being accessed/modified/detected, modifying the phone numbers ande-mail addresses stored in the contact information, and changing thesecurity code(s).

The remote message 68 comprises a first contact information 70 inputtedvia the interface program of the electronic apparatus. The securitymodule 24 will set/modify the security actions corresponding to each ofthe data security classes according to the first contact information 70,as shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Data Security Classes Security Action Class 3 Sending a noticesignal to the first contact information, locking and encrypting all datain the user's personal database stored in the subscriber informationmanagement module, and sending all the data to the first contactinformation Class 2 Sending a notice signal to the first contactinformation, locking and encrypting all data in the user's personaldatabase stored in the subscriber information management module Class 1Locking and encrypting all data in the user's personal database storedin the subscriber information management module Class 0 Doing nothing

The subscriber data management module 22 may further store anotherpredetermined second contact information. In some embodiment, the secondcontact information is the predetermined contact information 34pre-stored in the subscriber data management module 22. The securitymodule 24 will then set/modify the security actions corresponding toeach of the data security classes according to the second contactinformation, as shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Data Security Class Security Actions Class 3 Sending out thenotice signal to the second contact information, locking and encryptingall data in the user's personal database stored in the subscriberinformation management module, and sending all the data to the secondcontact information Class 2 Sending out the notice signal to the secondcontact information, locking and encrypting all data in the user'spersonal database stored in the subscriber information management moduleClass 1 Locking and encrypting all data in the user's personal databasestored in the subscriber information management module Class 0 Doingnothing

The mobile communication apparatus 10 comprises a display panel (notshown). According to some embodiment of the invention, the remotemessage 68 received by the transmission control circuit 16 is a shortmessage. If the security module 24 recognizes the remote control shortmessage as a predetermined legal remote control message, the remotecontrol short message will not be displayed on the display panel, so asto prevent the current user, probably an illegal user, of the lostmobile communication apparatus from being aware of the existence of theremote control short message.

Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the datasecurity method for the mobile communication apparatus according to apreferred embodiment of the invention. The present invention alsoprovides a data security method used in the mobile communicationapparatus 10. Please also refer to FIG. 1. The data security method ofthe present invention is described by referring to the mobilecommunication apparatus 10 in FIG. 1. According to the presentinvention, the data security method for the mobile communicationapparatus 10 comprises the following steps:

Step 200: A plurality of data security classes are provided and a thirdsecurity code 66 is stored in the mobile communication apparatus 10.

Step 202: The mobile communication apparatus 10 receives a remotemessage 68.

Step 204: The mobile communication apparatus 10 examines whether theremote message 68 is a predetermined legitimate remote control messageaccording to the third security code 66. If YES, go to step 206; if NOT,go to step 208.

Step 206: The data in the user's personal database 44 is protectedcorrespondingly according to the remote message 68.

Step 208: End

In some embodiment of the invention, in the following scenario, theoriginal owner loses his/her mobile communication apparatus 10, and thedata security class of the lost mobile communication apparatus 10 is setto be Class 2. Then, the original first SIM card 12 of the lost mobilecommunication apparatus 10 is replaced by the second SIM card 13. Theoriginal owner will receive a notice signal 36 first. However, the datain the user's personal database 44 will not be sent back to the originalowner since the data security class 2 provides no security action ofthat data transmission. The original owner can then further send aremote message 68 to the lost mobile communication apparatus 10 tochange the data security class to be Class 3. Therefore, the lost mobilecommunication apparatus 10 will then perform the security action ofsending all the data in the user's personal database 44 back to theoriginal owner according to the predetermined contact information. Inother words, no matter what the original setting of the security classand the contact information are, the original owner can easily changethat via remote control.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention is provided not onlyto effectively secure/protect the data stored in the mobilecommunication apparatus when the mobile communication is lost, but alsoto remotely control the setting of the lost mobile communicationapparatus. Besides, when the original SIM card is replaced, userinformation of the substitute SIM card can be sent to the original ownervia various transmission methods so that the original owner cancontinuously trace and set the lost mobile communication apparatus byusing a new communication number provided in that user information. Thishelps the original owner to find back the lost mobile communicationapparatus.

With the example and explanations above, the features and spirits of theinvention will be hopefully well described. Those skilled in the artwill readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of thedevice may be made while retaining the teaching of the invention.Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only bythe metes and bounds of the appended claims.

1. A mobile communication apparatus comprising: a first SubscriberIdentity Module (SIM) card, comprising a corresponding firstinternational mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) code, being coupled tothe mobile communication apparatus; an anti-theft control circuitcomprising: a SIM-card-detection module for detecting whether the firstSIM card is replaced by a second SIM card comprising a correspondingsecond IMSI code, and for generating a corresponding detection result ifthe second IMSI code is compared to be different from the first IMSIcode; and a subscriber information management module for storing thecorresponding first IMSI code and a predetermined contact informationwherein the subscriber information management module comprises a user'spersonal database; a security module providing a plurality of datasecurity classes for setting, wherein a subscriber needs to input asecond security code before setting and/or modifying the data securityclass, and only after the imputed second security code is confirmed tobe correct, the subscriber is allowed to set and/or to modify the datasecurity class of the mobile communication apparatus; and a transmissioncontrol circuit for transmitting data and/or signal; wherein when theSIM-card-detection module generates the detection result, thetransmission control circuit sends out a notice signal and transmits atleast a portion of data in the user's personal database to a designatedelectronic apparatus according to the predetermined contact informationstored in the subscriber information management module.
 2. The mobilecommunication apparatus of claim 1, wherein a subscriber needs to inputa first security code before storing and/or modifying the predeterminedcontact information defined by an end-user and stored in the subscriberinformation management module; and wherein after the inputted firstsecurity code is confirmed to be correct, the corresponding IMSI code ofthe SIM card currently coupled to the mobile communication apparatuswill be stored and/or modified in the subscriber information managementmodule.
 3. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein theuser's personal database comprises a phonebook database, a scheduledatabase, and an e-mail database.
 4. The mobile communication apparatusof claim 3, wherein the contact information is an e-mail address storedin the subscriber information management module in advance; and whereinthe transmission control circuit sends out an e-mail to be the noticesignal according to the e-mail address and transmits the data in theuser's personal database to the electronic apparatus which receives thee-mail.
 5. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 1, theSIM-card-detection module comprising: a detector for detecting a secondSIM card currently coupled to the mobile communication apparatus to geta corresponding second IMSI code; and a comparator for comparing thesecond IMSI code with the first IMSI code stored in the subscriberinformation management module; a transmission control circuit fortransmitting data and/or signal; wherein the SIM-card-detection modulegenerates the corresponding detection result if the second IMSI code isdifferent from the first IMSI code.
 6. The mobile communicationapparatus of claim 5, wherein the second SIM card has a correspondingsecond phone number which comprises a country code and an operator code,and the notice signal comprises the second phone number.
 7. The mobilecommunication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the subscriber is able todisable the function of the anti-theft control circuit through inputtingthe second security code.
 8. The mobile communication apparatus of claim1, wherein when the security module receives the detection result, adata security procedure in the security module is enabled to protect thedata in the user's personal database of the subscriber informationmanagement module according to the set data security class.
 9. Themobile communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the security modulecomprises four data security classes for setting and the data securityclasses comprises: a data security class 3: sending out the noticesignal according to the predetermined end-user contact information,locking up and encrypting all data in the user's personal databasestored in the subscriber information management module, and sending allof the data according to the predetermined end-user contact information;a data security class 2: sending out the notice signal according to thepredetermined end-user contact information, locking up and encryptingall data in the user's personal database stored in the subscriberinformation management module; a data security class 1: locking up andencrypting all data in the user's personal database stored in thesubscriber information management module; and a data security class 0:doing nothing.
 10. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 1,wherein the mobile communication apparatus further comprises acommunication circuit for establishing a communication linkage, and thefirst SIM card has a corresponding first phone number serving as thepredetermined end-user contact information; and wherein when theSIM-card-detection module generates the detection result and transmitsthe detection result to the security module; the security module informsthe transmission control circuit to dial the first phone number via thecommunication circuit for sending out the notice signal automatically.11. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein after thenotice signal is sent out, the security module waits for a confirmationsignal to confirm that the notice signal has been transmitted accordingto the predetermined end-user contact information successfully, andwherein if the security module does not receive the confirmation signalin a predetermined period, the security module repetitiously sends thenotice signal until the confirmation signal is received.
 12. The mobilecommunication apparatus of claim 4, wherein when and/or after thetransmission control circuit sends out the data in the user's personaldatabase according to the predetermined end-user contact information,the security module avoids the showing of information related to thatdata transmission or/and deletes all corresponding records of that datatransmission.
 13. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 11,wherein when and/or after the notice signal is transmitted, the securitymodule avoids the showing of information related to that notice signaltransmission or/and deletes all corresponding records of that noticesignal transmission; and wherein when and/or after the confirmationsignal is received, the security module avoids the showing ofinformation related to that confirmation signal reception or/and deletesall corresponding records of that confirmation signal reception.
 14. Themobile communication apparatus of claim 1, the transmission controlcircuit comprising: a carrier control module for selecting one availablecarrier from a plurality of carriers for transmitting data; and a datatransmission module for selecting a corresponding data transmissionapplication program for transmitting data according to the carrier thathas been selected; wherein the carrier control module selects thecarrier based upon the size of the data to be transmitted.
 15. Themobile communication apparatus of claim 13, wherein the carriers areprovided in a communication system, and the communication system is oneof Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), General Packet RadioService (GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), WidebandCode Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and CDMA2000; and wherein the datatransmission application program is one of an e-mail applicationprogram, a short message service (SMS) application program, and amultimedia message service (MMS) application program.
 16. The mobilecommunication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile communicationapparatus comprises a unique international mobile equipment identity(IMEI) for identification.
 17. A mobile communication apparatuscomprising: an anti-theft control circuit comprising: a subscriberinformation management module for storing a user's personal database;and a security module providing a plurality of data security classes forsetting and having a third security code to perform one of acorresponding plurality of data security procedures on the data in theuser's personal database, wherein the corresponding data securityprocedure is determined according to the set data security class; and atransmission control circuit for transmitting data and/or signals;wherein when the transmission control circuit receives a remote messagewith compiled and/or encoded content, the security module examineswhether the remote message is a predetermined legitimate remote controlmessage by decoding the content of the remote message according to thethird security code stored on the mobile communication apparatus;wherein if the remote control message is legitimate, the correspondingdata security procedure is performed on the data in the user's personaldatabase according to the decoded content of the remote message.
 18. Themobile communication apparatus of claim 17, wherein the remote messageis sent from a remote electronic apparatus, comprising an interfaceprogram for receiving an inputted fourth security code, and the remotemessage is compiled and/or encoded by the remote electronic apparatus tobe the predetermined legitimate remote control message based upon thefourth security code; wherein when the security module receives theremote message, the content of the remote message is decoded based uponthe third security code stored in the security module; wherein if thefourth security code is same as the third security code, the content ofthe remote message is decoded successfully, and then the remote messageis confirmed to be the predetermined legitimate remote control message.19. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 18, wherein the securitymodule comprises four data security classes for setting, and the datasecurity procedure is determined according to the set data securityclass, the data security classes comprises: a data security class 3:sending a notice signal according to the contact information, locking upand encrypting all data in the user's personal database stored in thesubscriber information management module, and transmitting all of thedata according to the contact information; a data security class 2:sending the notice signal according to the first contact information,locking up and encrypting all data in the user's personal databasestored in the subscriber information management module; a data securityclass 1: locking up and encrypting all data in the user's personaldatabase stored in the subscriber information management module; and adata security class 0: doing nothing; wherein the contact information isone of a first contact information included in the remote message and asecond contact information stored in the subscriber informationmanagement module.
 20. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 17,wherein the mobile communication apparatus further comprises a displaypanel, and the remote message received by the transmission controlcircuit is a remote control short message; wherein if the securitymodule confirms that the remote control short message is thepredetermined legitimate remote control message, the security modulewill prevents the remote control short message from being displayed onthe display panel so as to keep the user currently using the mobilecommunication apparatus from being aware of the existence of the remotecontrol short message.
 21. A method for signal detection andnotification applied in a mobile communication apparatus, the mobilecommunication apparatus comprising a user's personal database, themethod comprising: (a) providing a first Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card to be coupled to the mobile communication apparatus, thefirst SIM card comprising a corresponding first international mobilesubscriber identity (IMSI) code; (b) storing in the mobile communicationapparatus the first IMSI code corresponding to the first SIM card and apredetermined contact information, wherein the mobile communicationapparatus provides a plurality of data security classes for setting; (c)detecting whether the first SIM card is replaced by a second SIM cardcomprising a corresponding second IMSI code, and generating acorresponding detection result if the second IMSI code is compared to bedifferent from the first IMSI code; and (d) when the detection result isgenerated, performing a data security procedure on the data stored inthe mobile communication apparatus according to the set data securityclass and sending out a notice signal and transmitting at least aportion of data in the user's personal database to a designatedelectronic apparatus according to the predetermined contact information.22. The method of claim 21, wherein a subscriber needs to input a firstsecurity code before storing or/and modifying the predetermined contactinformation defined by an end-user; and wherein after the inputted firstsecurity code is confirmed to be correct, the corresponding IMSI code ofthe SIM card currently coupled to the mobile communication apparatus isstored or/and modified.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the contactinformation is an e-mail address, and an e-mail is sent out according tothe e-mail address to be the notice signal, and the data stored in theuser's personal database in the mobile communication apparatus istransmitted to the electronic apparatus which receives that e-mail. 24.The method of claim 22, the step (c) further comprising: (c1) detectinga second SIM card presently coupled to the mobile communicationapparatus to get a corresponding second IMSI code; (c2) comparing thesecond IMSI code with the first IMSI code stored in the mobilecommunication apparatus; and (c3) generating the corresponding detectionresult when the second IMSI code is different from the first IMSI code.25. The method of claim 24, wherein the second SIM card has acorresponding second phone number which comprises a country code and anoperator code, and the notice signal comprises the second phone number.26. The method of claim 24, wherein a subscriber needs to input a secondsecurity code before setting or/and modifying the data security class,and only after the inputted second security code is confirmed to becorrect, the subscriber is allowed to set or/and to modify the datasecurity class of the mobile communication apparatus.
 27. The method ofclaim 22, wherein the mobile communication apparatus provides four datasecurity classes for setting, and the data security classes comprises: adata security class 3: sending out the notice signal according to thepredetermined end-user contact information, locking up and encryptingthe data stored in the mobile communication apparatus, and transmittingthe data according to the predetermined end-user contact information; adata security class 2: sending out the notice signal according to thepredetermined end-user contact information, locking up and encryptingthe data stored in the mobile communication apparatus; a data securityclass 1: locking up and encrypting the data stored in the mobilecommunication apparatus; and a data security class 0: doing nothing. 28.The method of claim 21, wherein after the notice signal is sent out, themobile communication apparatus waits for an confirmation signal toconfirm that the notice signal has been transmitted according to thepredetermined end-user contact information successfully; and wherein ifthe mobile communication apparatus does not receive the confirmationsignal in a predetermined period, the mobile communication apparatusrepetitiously sends the notice signal until the confirmation signal isreceived.
 29. The method of claim 21, wherein the first SIM card has acorresponding first phone number serving as the predetermined end-usercontact information; and wherein when the detection result is generated,the mobile communication apparatus will dial the first phone number forsending out the notice signal automatically.
 30. The method of claim 23,wherein when and/or after the data stored in the mobile communicationapparatus is transmitted according to the predetermined end-user contactinformation, the information related to that data transmission will beprevented from being shown and all records related to that datatransmission will be deleted.
 31. The method of claim 29, wherein whenand/or after the notice signal is transmitted, the information relatedto that notice signal transmission is prevented from being shown and allcorresponding records of that notice signal transmission will bedeleted; and wherein when and/or after the confirmation signal isreceived, the information related to that confirmation signal receptionwill be prevented from being shown and all corresponding records of thatconfirmation signal reception will be deleted.
 32. The method of claim30, wherein the mobile communication apparatus will select one availablecarrier from a plurality of carriers for data transmission, and willselect a corresponding data transmission application program accordingto the selected carrier; wherein the mobile communication apparatusselects the carrier based upon the size of the data to be transmitted.33. The method of claim 30, wherein the carriers are provided in acommunication system, and the communication system is one of GlobalSystem for Mobile Communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA) and CDMA2000; and wherein the datatransmission application program is one of an e-mail applicationprogram, a short message service (SMS) application program, and amultimedia message service (MMS) application program.
 34. A method fordata security applied in a mobile communication apparatus, the methodcomprising: setting one of a plurality of data security classes andstoring a third security code; receiving a remote message with compiledand/or encoded content, and examining the remote message by applying thethird security code; confirming the remote message to be a predeterminedlegitimate remote control message by decoding the content of the remotemessage according to the third security code stored on the mobilecommunication apparatus; and performing a data security procedure on thedata stored in the mobile communication apparatus according to thedecoded content of the remote message and corresponding to the set datasecurity class.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the remote messageis sent out from a remote electronic apparatus, comprising an interfaceprogram for receiving a fourth security code, and the remote message iscompiled and/or encoded by the remote electronic apparatus to be thepredetermined legitimate remote control message based upon the fourthsecurity code; wherein when the remote message is received by the mobilecommunication apparatus, the content of the remote message will bedecoded based upon the third security code stored in the mobilecommunication apparatus; wherein if the fourth security code is same asthe third security code, the content of the remote message will bedecoded successfully, and the remote message is confirmed to be thepredetermined legitimate remote control message by the mobilecommunication apparatus.
 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the mobilecommunication apparatus comprises four data security classes forsetting, and the data security classes comprises: a data security class3: sending a notice signal according to the contact information, lockingup and encrypting all data stored in the mobile communication apparatus,and transmitting all of the data according to the contact information; adata security class 2: sending the notice signal according to the firstcontact information, locking up and encrypting all data stored in the smobile communication apparatus; a data security class 1: locking up andencrypting all data stored in the mobile communication apparatus; and adata security class 0: doing nothing; wherein the contact information isone of a first contact information included in the remote message and asecond contact information stored in the mobile communication apparatus.37. The method of claim 34, wherein the mobile communication apparatusfurther comprises a display panel, and the remote message received bythe mobile communication apparatus is a remote control short message;and wherein if the remote control short message is confirmed to be thepredetermined legitimate remote control message, the remote controlshort message will be prevented from be displayed on the display panelso as to keep the user currently using the mobile communicationapparatus from being aware of the existence of the remote control shortmessage.
 38. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said predeterminedcontact information is defined by an end-user and comprises a mobiletelephone number and/or an e-mail address.
 39. The method of claim 21,wherein said predetermined contact information is defined by an end-userand comprises a mobile telephone number and/or an e-mail address.